“What’s required is a new Declaration of Independence, not just in our nation but in our own lives, in our own hearts, from ideology and small thinking, from prejudice and bigotry, from selfishness and narrow interest; an appeal not just to our easy instincts but to our better angels. That’s the reason I launched my campaign for the Presidency nearly two years ago.”

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”

The Declaration of Independence, July 4th, 1776

I think it’s pretty good, although maybe they could have added women in there somewhere just to be fair. Maybe that’s what Obama means. A new one that proclaims women have the same rights to all those goodies would be cool. I don’t think that’s what he means though. It certainly takes a boatload of audacity to make such an outrageous statement, especially after the insincere jingoism that preceded it. Although, come to think of it, it takes a tremendous amount of temerity to seize for oneself the mantle of Abraham Lincoln before you have even a single accomplishment to your name, well, besides being elected. One word that will never be used to describe Barack Obama is “humble.”

At heart, Obama’s statement is insulting to Americans, and not just those who admire the old Declaration of Independence. It implies that we are ideologues, we are small minded, we are prejudiced, we are bigots, we are selfish, but not to worry, he has seen the error of our ways and that’s why he ran for President. Henceforth, if any of us, for any reason disagree with his plans, we ought to know what we are, right? Those of us who followed the primaries closely remember this tactic. Anyone who questioned the One was either a racist, a Republican, or both. Now anyone who questions our new President’s agenda is a prejudiced, bigoted, small minded, selfish ideologue.

Not that anyone can discern what that agenda will be. Obama’s had more flip flops than David Hasselhoff. I would bet that it’s not what most Democrats or Republicans are expecting though, given the early ramp up of Obama for America 2.0, and the appointment of so many new policy “czars”, some of them with socialist ties. Obama seems to feel a lot of help will be needed to “thrust his agenda through the federal agencies and Congress.” All this force is being mustered for a reason. Obama must realize his agenda will not be very palatable to many Americans. I guess we’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll keep on clinging to the old Declaration, although I may pencil in “and women,” or change men to read “people” instead.

Via Liberal Rapture I came upon this ominous article from the LA Times which describes the organization that our President elect is quietly forming to promote his agenda and work toward his re-election. The primary goal seems to be to use hundreds of paid staffers around the country to pressure lawmakers to ensure passage of whatever legislation President Obama chooses. The article describes the objections some lawmakers have to such a powerful organization centered solely on promoting a single individual as opposed to a party or policy. (Like the slogan says, “It’s all about the O.”)

With such an organization at his disposal, along with the help of such “grassroots” organizations as MoveOn.org, President Obama will literally have an army of people out spreading his message and agitating for “change.” Truly bizarre when you consider that it is Democrats who control both Houses. Why would the head of his own party feel the need for so much coercion?

Then there’s the shadow government. The President elect has appointed a number of “czars” to oversee various departments. As these appointments are not subject to Senate confirmations, they haven’t received much media attention but they should. As demonstrated here, these czars may end up wielding tremendous power.

Does it not seem that we the people are becoming more and more irrelevent in the process? Instead of our top public servant promoting our agenda, it appears he is using every means available to force his agenda on us.

Update:

Here’s another lengthy article talking, in part, about “Obama for America 2.0.” This author’s central premise is that Obama is really our first “Independent” President, but I don’t think that’s correct. Obama didn’t run as an Independent with his own ideas, he ran as a Democrat on a Democratic platform. Every single policy and idea he has had has been gleaned from somewhere else. For all the crap about “new” this and “new” that, Obama has never offered an original idea, nor has he stuck to any discernible principle beyond blind ambition for himself. All these articles really point to the possibility that we may end up with not our first Independent American President, but our first American dictator.